Thursday, April 28, 2016

Is Fiction Just Shades of an Author's Truth?

As Lord Byron said, "Truth is always strange; stranger than
fiction." So, is fiction just shades of an author's truth? I came up with
this question as a result of an article that floated through my
Facebook newsfeed last week.

It caught my eye because of the title from New York Magazine, "The Real-Life Gone Girl Is 80, and still terrifying." The New York Best Selling
novel "Gone Girl" expanded to a film was an unusual psychological
thriller. It was masterful in how it took the reader through the story from the
perspectives of the two protagonists. It is a story that stays with you because
what you think you know isn't at all as it appears, much like real life.

A psychological thriller
has all the bells and whistles of a thriller. It layers the characters
emotional unstable psychological makeup, ultimately driving the plot.

As an author of fiction,
you can take a true story and make it your own. Use the basis of the facts and
weave into your unique book. Your characters will develop an obvious and
not so obvious tormented relationships complete with moral ambiguities for your
protagonists. Don't forget to develop pathological tendencies in your
protagonists.

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Gillian Flynn author of Gone Girl, states, "My interest is in
turning over a rock and seeing what's underneath. It's a personality trait more
than anything; it's what made me want to become a crime reporter, even though I
was not suited for it personality-wise. [I wanted to explore] those bursts of
violence, where they come from and how they unite people together. I wanted to
figure out what drives people to these sorts of extremes." Flynn
admitted in the same interview to including truth in her book, "I
certainly put some of that in the story line. I was a Missouri kid in New York working
at my dream magazine and got laid off and had to figure out what to do with my
life next. I did have more time to write; [Gone Girl] was
the first of the three books that I wrote while I didn't have a day job. I
think it let me overwrite -- I probably wrote two books and had to chop it back
to one."

So yes, when you come across a true story
consider taking bits of the truth and turning it into an unforgettable
psychological thriller book. Incorporate elements of mystery, drama, action and
psychological horror.

Track the most recent updates

Enter your email address to receive the latest site updates

Blog posts appearing on Suite T are copyrighted and are the exclusive property of the contributing author in cooperation with Southern Writers Magazine. No material may be reposted or republished without the author's written consent. Please report violations to staff@southernwritersmag.com

Some browsers (especially AOL and older versions of IE), don't play nice with Disqus. For best results, Blogger recommends Firefox, IE 8-10, Safari and Google Chrome when commenting.